Fell
by Radical Nike
Summary: COMPLETE. 5 of 5 parts. When Jean's telepathic abilities draw the other X-men into her mind, who can help untangle them?
1. Part One

Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine. 

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

Part One

Clouds moved like waves, sometimes. Undulating. It was even a scientific term. Mackerel, like the scales of a fish. Peaceful words, peaceful waves, peaceful feelings.

The clouds could be anvils for the gods to pound on, harbingers of tornadoes and deadly lightning. Dread and terror. Fear of the dark.

Ororo Munroe knew about the darkness that clouds could be, as well as the joys. They could be a mysterious veil over the face of the moon or sparkle with the iridescent lights of the rainbow. Even when they were completely black, there was always an edge that shone so brightly that it burned its shape into the eye, floating like a ghost.

This was the image of Storm, who hovered between the earth and the heavens, her white tresses blowing like clouds themselves, eyes full of light and thunder. She held her arms up to the surging skies and let them embrace her. The arms of the tempest reached out and embraced her.

And she was filled with joy.

The weather in Bayville was subject to change without notice. The local meteorologists had been studying the erratic shifts in pressure and humidity for some time now, but no answers had emerged.

Professor Charles Xavier would have been concerned if they had actually made progress. He turned his attention away from the howling gale battering at the windows and placed it on his student. Jean Grey, more than any other the other students at the school except, perhaps, Scott Summers, was truly his protégée. One day, he knew, her telepathic abilities would surpass his own. Coupled with her increasingly powerful telekinetic powers, she would be a force of nature to fear.

That, however, was in the future.

"Exactly what did you wish to discuss this evening, Jean?"

The beautiful teenager sat silently for a few moments, choosing her words. The flash of light from the tempest outside highlighted her red hair and cast shadows over her cheeks. "Well, Professor, lately I've noticed that some of the other students have been becoming louder."

Xavier touched his hands together in front of his face, considering. "'Louder?'"

She sighed and averted her gaze. "It's like, well, like they're beginning to develop some kind of pseudo-psychic ability. It used to be that in order for me to communicate with them telepathically, I'd have to initiate contact first and then pay very close attention." She met his eyes again. "More and more, it seems like _they're_ reaching out to _me._"

The older telepath was unsurprised. "I have always believed that all humans have within themselves the potential to communicate mind to mind, Jean. It is quite possible that the contact that Scott and the others have had with you, a more advanced mind, has actually begun to teach them how to use the ability." He reached over and touched her hand gently. "The other students do not have the potential strength and scope that your mutation has given you, but the ability is _there_. Their minds are trained to yours, and they seek it out automatically." He smiled. "I suspect that they reach out to you more easily than they would ever reach out to me."

Jean was still. "I feel like I'm contaminating them." She looked into her lap.

"Do not fear your influence on your friends, Jean. They don't even realize that it is their own minds, not just yours, allowing contact between you. It has served all of the X-men quite advantageously in the past."

"That's true, Professor, but I still have a bad feeling about what I've done to them. I just don't feel it's right for their minds to be open to mine so easily. What if I—" her words faltered and Xavier sensed what was troubling her.

"Your power surge was unfocused, Jean. It was simply a case of your strength outstripping your experience. Are you afraid that, should your power spike abruptly, that your teammates would be hurt?"

She hid her face with her hands. "Yes," she breathed. "Terrified."

In a separate part of the Institute, immaturity reared its oblivious head.

Actually, it reared _two_ of them.

"Evan, hurry or we'll get caught," a German voice whispered furiously. "He'll be back any moment!"

"Kurt, relax," said his accomplice. "I've got the last bulb right here." A final, authoritative twist and he gave a thumbs up. "Let's get out of here. I just wish I could see Ray's face when his hand hits the connection."

The faceplate to the light switch next to the bedroom door had been pried loose, leaving only the exposed connections. The wires had been connected to a series of parallel circuits throughout the room, each of which was connected to a single light bulb. The power to the room had already been cut.

The two pranksters fled down the hall to Kurt's bedroom, where a pile of paper 'DNA' strands were scattered across their biology homework. "Man, I hope that set-up works," Evan Daniels worried. "I'd hate to have gone through all that trouble just to see it fizzle."

"No worries," Kurt Wagner said cheerily. "Even if it doesn't, he'll still have to remove all the light bulbs." His blue tail waggled mischievously.

"Yeah, _after_ he kills us..."

A knock on the door was all the warning they had before Kitty Pryde walked through it. "Hey, Kurt, can I borrow—" She observed their conspiratorial huddle. "What did the two of you do this time?"

"Katzchen, I'm _hurt_ that you would automatically assume I'm up to no good," Kurt said mournfully, a sparkle of mayhem in his eyes. "I am flattered by your keen observation of my humble self, though."

Kitty groaned. "Oh, puh-lease. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'm, like, better off not _knowing_. Plausible deniability and stuff. I just wanted to know if I could borrow your graphing calculator. I fried mine."

She _did_ have a habit of doing that. "As long as you promise to hit the buttons with the tip of your eraser and not your fingers," he grinned. He jumped over to his desk and rummaged around for a moment. "Ah!" He vanished in a cloud of smelly smoke and re-appeared hanging off the light fixture bolted onto the wall by the door.

Kitty grabbed the calculator and looked at him with narrow eyes and a quirked eyebrow. "Thanks, fuzzy."

A loud curse exploded from the hall.

Evan jumped up. "That was Ray."

Kurt's smile extended from pointy ear to pointy ear. "Shall we see what he's so upset about?" The pair rushed out the door.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Do I really want to see this?" She heard the laughs of the other students in the hallway. "Yeah," she admitted.

The sheer amount of blinding white light pouring from Ray Crisp's bedroom said it all.

The brunette sighed. "Ray, like, _really_ needs to stop zapping every little thing he touches," she said to no one in particular, handling Kurt's calculator _very_ carefully. Black kettles and all that.

Outside, Storm saw brilliant light fill one of windows of the dormitories, but it faded after a minute. It was not important.

The wind that tore at the trees and the rain that beat upon the earth did not touch her. This tempest was not of her creation, but she still reveled in it. A storm of this magnitude was rare and she never dared to create one herself.

She was not a goddess anymore. She had no need to punish or reward. Not with the might of nature itself.

The control she had of the elements had been hard-won, over the years. She had fought to contain her emotions once she understood how they impacted the world around her in the form of the weather. Ororo had sought and achieved serenity in order to keep her tribe—and then her comrades—safe.

Nothing would tear that hard-won peace from her. The result could destroy all she cherished.


	2. Part Two

Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine. 

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

Part Two

__

Jean dreamt that she was flying. The air stung her cheeks and ruffled her hair. There was a heavy weight on her back that she knew was important, but she was engrossed in the rush of wind roaring in her ears that she didn't really pay attention.

Heat exploded behind her and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small boy flying beside her.

He was scared, more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. She reached over and pulled the release for the parachute strapped to his back. The air caught him and he reached out for her. He cried out her name—

"Scott!" Jean bolted upwards, the name on her lips. She was wide awake. Had anyone heard? She hadn't yelled, had she?

The girls' wing remained quiet. Reaching out with her mind, she found that most of the household was fast asleep. Mr. McCoy and Kurt were both in the kitchen, apparently sharing a late night snack.

Something to drink actually wasn't a bad idea. Maybe it would help her steady her mind. Eating tended to ground her whenever her mental shields slipped. She collected her housecoat and shrugged it on.

It wasn't the first time she had picked up on other people's dreams, but the last instance had been months ago. She thought that she had finally managed to shield her senses from the mental motes that floated through the night.

Her conversation the previous evening came to the fore and she stopped in the middle of the stairs.

Maybe her shields weren't slipping. Maybe Scott's mind had actually reached out to hers.

A pair of blue shadows, one large and one small, appeared at the bottom of the steps.

"I thought I heard someone wandering the night," Hank McCoy said pleasantly. He had on a pair of green and blue plaid pajama bottoms and that was it. "If you intended a midnight raid, I fear that Kurt and myself have depleted the junk food supply severely, Miss Grey."

"Oh, I wasn't hungry. Just thirsty," she stammered out. "I'll just be a few moments. What are the two of you doing up?"

Kurt was crouched on the floor, blending with the shadows in the front hall so well that only his eyes were truly distinguishable. "Well, uh, it sounds kind of silly, but I had a bad dream and Herr McCoy heard me..." Jean caught an image of fire that came and went so quickly that she couldn't determine a context to connect it with.

"It's not silly, Kurt," she said soothingly. "As a matter of fact, I was woken by a bad dream, too." She smiled, trying to put him at ease.

Kurt usually responded well to encouragement, but this time he seemed to hunch in on himself. "Oh. I hope you can fall asleep again soon." He vanished.

Jean turned back towards the top of the steps in concern. Beast gently caught her arm with his massive hand. "Let him be, Jean. This isn't a new or, unfortunately, _infrequent_ occurrence." He smiled at her. "Would you like to talk?" Jean shook her head. "Anytime, Miss Grey." He ambled up the stairs and disappeared into the shadows.

Jean was still sitting in the kitchen with an untouched glass of orange juice in front of her when the sun eventually rose.

In the Danger Room's control center, that same afternoon, Storm watched as Cyclops and Spyke stealthily navigated a room full of red lasers. So far, neither had set off any of the security features within the simulation; if the pair managed to successfully complete this segment, they would be home free.

The goal was to safely retrieve a clear plastic cube filled with raw eggs, which Cyclops currently had cradled in his arms. If any of the eggs were broken, the mission was a failure.

"Cyclops, freeze," Spyke whispered. Cyclops stopped himself and waited for the younger boy to guide him past the laser. "There's a beam six inches in front of you, about eighteen inches off the floor. Watch me."

Spyke carefully stepped over a space of air and the red-visioned X-man copied his motion exactly. Due to the nature of his mutation, he could only see in shades of red, which made security beams difficult, if not impossible, to detect. "Are there any more, Spyke?"

"I don't see any," the other replied. He examined the door. "It has a motion sensor within the frame, but I think that if we short it out before trying to go through, it shouldn't go off." He waited for his captain, who was studying the immediate area, to respond.

"No, Spyke." He pointed at the ceiling. "That hatch is the way out." There was a modest air duct immediately above the door.

"I don't know, Cyke," Spyke said doubtfully. "Logan really likes to trap those things with gas and stuff. I can hot-wire this door, no problem, man."

Storm smiled. Her nephew could be very frustrating to work with because he was so very _stubborn_.

"No, we'll just go through the duct," Cyclops decided. He handed Spyke the egg cube stood on his toes and reached up to the grate, examining the edges with his fingers. "Logan also said that the shafts inside a building where usually left unsecured, because most people try to break into a complex through the system, not out." The grating slid aside very easily. He crouched and jumped, pulling himself into the cramped shaft and peering in either direction. He crept towards a turn and saw, sure enough, that there was an access panel that had a view of a stand of trees. The panel itself was very small, but Cyclops determined that with a little judicious loosening, it would open enough for two teenager boys to slide through.

He returned to fetch Spyke. "Come on, hand me the cube." Spyke held it up towards the air duct and Cyclops collected it gingerly. The skater pulled himself up and the two crawled to the outside access.

"Give me something to pry this thing with," Cyclops ordered. Spyke extruded a dense piece of bone for him to use as a lever. "By going this way, we delay the chance that someone will see the door was sabotaged." The panel suddenly came loose with a crack and Spyke grabbed it before it could fall outside.

"Easy, man," Spyke murmured. He peered out from the panel. "Looks clear. There are some motion lights immediately outside the perimeter of the trees, but if we weave through them towards the fence," he pointed, "we should get out without detection."

"Sounds good." The two jumped down, still keeping the cube of eggs in mind, scurrying through the trees. None of the motion lights went off.

The sound of Storm's voice over the PA startled them. "Well done, boys!" The sim faded around them and the door opened. A moment later, Storm was in the room with them, examining the cube. "Not a single crack. Very well done."

Spyke grinned and yelled. "High five, man! We are the _bomb_!" Cyclops smiled and pounded him on the shoulder.

Storm turned to Cyclops. "It is wise to err on the side of caution, Scott, but sometimes the situation calls for swift actions more than stealth. Often, an objective can be accomplished in the simplest and most direct ways." She turned to her nephew. "Hot-wiring the door would have been just as effective as avoiding the sensors, Evan. Good thinking." 

"Yes, ma'am," Cyclops said smartly. Spyke looked pleased.

The door opened again to admit Jean Grey, in uniform. "Hi, guys. Good afternoon, Storm. I take it that Rogue and Kitty aren't here yet?" She seemed tired.

"Correct, but you are early," the African weather witch smiled. "You have the rest of the afternoon free, gentlemen. I'll see you at dinner." Cyclops and Spyke eagerly exited the Danger Room.

Rogue and Shadowcat appeared only a moment later. "Oh, there she is," Rogue said when she saw Jean. "We were wonderin' where you were. Nobody's seen you all day."

Storm looked at the telepath. She looked rather pale and there was more than a hint of fatigue around her eyes. "Are you felling well, Jean?"

Jean waved her off. "I'll be fine. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Are you sure? Nightcrawler was excused from training today for exhaustion, and I dare say that you should be too."

"It's okay, Storm." Her voice was firm.

"Then we will begin," Storm pronounced. "Load training sequence _Maelstrom_."

They were suddenly standing on a fishing platform. Rocks jutted like teeth in the water all around them. There were planks connecting some to others.

"This is a timed exercise. When the program begins, waves will begin to crash and a fierce storm will begin. Jean and Shadowcat will cross over to that island," she pointed, "and retrieve the flag. Rogue and myself will be guarding it. You must return to this dock with the flag in under ten minutes."

The girls nodded.

Storm rose into the air and Rogue climbed over the rocks to the island. "I will concentrate my efforts on Jean. You focus on Shadowcat. Our goal is only to slow them down," the windrider said.

"What's the point of this drill, Ms. Munroe?" Rogue asked. "I'm just curious. This doesn't seem too terribly difficult."

"The purpose is to see how well Jean and Kitty can synchronize their efforts. An exercise in improvisation," Storm replied calmly. They were in place. "Begin sequence!"

Wind filled the Danger Room and the synthesized water immediately began to heave large waves towards the dock. Jean immediately levitated herself above the churning surf, but Shadowcat was drenched. She caught at the groaning boards as the water threatened to dump over the side.

"Hey, Jean, some help?" she called to the floating X-man, but the storm was too loud. _*Jean!*_

She felt her body rise above the waves. Jean had a small line in-between her brows from concentration, but otherwise showed no sign of strain. The two hovered together.

"Shadowcat, you can phase to avoid being hit, you know," Jean scolded. "I doubt I'll be able to hold both of us aloft for ten minutes _and_ avoid Storm."

The younger girl had the grace to look sheepish. "Yeah, I know, I just, like, freaked for a sec." She peered across the Danger Room to watch the island and its defenders. "At least it doesn't look like Storm is going to actively attack us."

"No," Jean replied, frowning. "Kitty, I'm going to set you down on one of the rocks. _Phase_. I'll draw Storm and Rogue off."

"'Kay..." Shadowcat nimbly kept her feet when she touched down and faded just in time to let an enormous wave pass right through her. Her foot sunk into the rock and she quickly pulled it back out. "Careful," she reminded herself. She began to jump from rock to rock, using the haphazardly placed planks when they were available. In the distance she could see Jean 'toss' Storm through the air, pushing her away from the island and trying to keep her too off-balance to use her weather manipulation.

Where was Rogue? As soon as she thought about the copycat, she saw a flash of white and brown hair in the corner of her eye. Shadowcat phased just as Rogue came barreling through the space she was occupying.

"You got ta phase back in ta grab that flag, ghost-girl," Rogue growled. "I can keep up with you no problem."

__

So much for Jean drawing them both off, Shadowcat thought. _I'll just have to outrun her._

The small X-man ran straight through her opponent, leaping from rock to jagged rock while dodging waves. The wind kept upsetting her balance, but Rogue, despite her words, was having even more trouble. She landed in the water frequently.

Shadowcat was only a few jumps away from the flag when she completely fell through a rock. Whoa, stay-phased-stay-phased-stay-phased! She hated when she accidentally 'slipped,' because she had no idea what would happen if she solidified inside something else. So far it seemed as though she physically _couldn't_, since two objects could occupy the same space at the same time. She didn't want to find out. (1)

Groping upwards, Shadowcat found herself sinking even faster. _No way! I've got this climbing thing, like, _down_._ She tried again, but made the situation even worse.

Not really wanting to find out what the composition of the rock under the school was, Shadowcat called out to her teammate. _*Jean, help! I've lost control of my power!*_

Jean heard Kitty call out to her and cried. "Pause sequence!"

Storm canceled out a small whirlwind while rogue hauled herself out of the now-calm water. "Jean, what's wrong?" Storm asked coolly.

"It's Kitty—she's in trouble." Jean flew over the island. "I think she was right here..._*Kitty, exactly what's wrong?*_" she asked aloud, projecting her thoughts at the same time.

__

*My power's gone haywire. I fell through the floor on accident and tried to climb back out, but kept sinking deeper.* Jean sensed that her mind was so focused on trying to remain insubstantial that she couldn't keep her thoughts together for long.

"_*Hang in there,*_" Jean whispered. "She's caught in the floor and sinking deeper whenever she tries to move. I'm going to try to lift her out."

Storm had shut down the simulation. The three women stood over the spot Jean had indicated Shadowcat was. "Are you sure you can grab something that's on a slightly different plane o' reality, Jean?" Rogue asked cautiously.

Storm gently took her by the arm. "Hush, child. Jean is concentrating."

Jean had her eyes closed and her hands touching either side of her forehead. She didn't need to hold her head, but it was a habit._ *Kitty, let me into your mind. Let me see out of your eyes.*_ She felt Kitty 'make room' and found herself in total darkness. She felt her lungs seizing in panic, breathing air that didn't exist. Jean had never considered that Kitty didn't have to hold her breath while phasing. _*Try to climb.*_

She/they fell deeper. Jean/Kitty wrapped her/their mind around her/their body. _**RISE** _they whispered together.

They rose and Jean/Kitty floated out of the floor and into the air above Storm and Rogue. Jean/Kitty saw herself standing perfectly still below, face blank. Time to return 'home.'

The Jean-self tried to unwind herself from the Kitty-self, but the Kitty-self was tangled. The Jean-self yanked hard against the girl's weaker mind and, to her horror, found herself drawing Kitty back into Jean's body.

-------

Author's Note:

(1) I realize that Kitty became trapped halfway phased in "The HeX Factor," when the Scarlet Witch was wreaking havoc with everyone's abilities. Please assume that this story took place before that episode and that she was unaware of what would happen—besides, even then she was only partially in the ground.


	3. Part Three

Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine. 

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

P.S. I apologize for how long this part took to come out, but several problems with the plot suddenly manifested themselves and I had to think about them for a few days.

Part Three

Storm had suspected that Jean and Kitty were in dire trouble when Kitty stayed hanging in mid-air. It was confirmed when Jean lurched to the side and gasped. "Jean, what has happened?"

The telepath did not respond.

Rogue backed away from the two girls. "Storm, I don't think she's payin' much attention..." Her eyes suddenly opened wide. "Back off!"

Jean's eyes had snapped open, but her green eyes had faded to white and were glowing. A psychic wind rustled her loose red hair and she was floating barely an inch off the floor. Kitty still hung limply, like a doll. Storm seized one of Kitty's wrists and tried to pull her away from Jean, but a shock jolted through her system and she felt her consciousness fade.

Rogue tried to run. She didn't make it.

"Professor!"

Professor Xavier looked up from his computer to see Evan bearing down on him. "Easy, Evan. What's wrong?" He turned his chair towards the boy.

"I went to check on Kurt-we have a biology assignment due tomorrow-and he was asleep," he babbled. "Anyway, we need to get this project done or Ms. Gunning will kill us, so I tried to wake him up, but he won't move, man! It's like he's in a coma or something!"

Xavier held up his hand to silence the boy and sent his mind out towards Kurt. Evan was correct; there was something wrong. It was as if his mind had been suppressed. Could Rogue have touched him? This was her scheduled time in the Danger Room...

Evan didn't have time to panic when the Professor slumped in his wheelchair, because he collapsed to the floor, senseless, a moment later.

One by one, the residents of the Institute fell. Jubilee and Amara fell, spilling bright blue nail polish across Jubilee's bed. Across the hall, Ray and Roberto fell, also, cutting their argument short. In the back field, Sam, Bobby, and Hank were sprawled out, helpless. Not too far away, a wolf and a set of sextuplets resembled a pile of puppies. Last of all, in the garage, Scott and Logan fell to either side of a bright red sport convertible.

All were caught in the riptide pull of Jean's powerful mind.

__

Jean was not flying this time; she was falling. Skyscrapers rushed past her as Magneto's powers abruptly wore off. Suddenly, strong arms caught her and she felt herself gliding back towards the sky-

The sky was bare of any cloud. The crops were dry and beginning to wilt. Jean held her hands up and felt the clouds begin to gather-

A mob was starting to gather. She had to escape. Jean could fear terror swelling within her stomach and her tail whipped under her long robe. She didn't want to flee another bonfire-

The plane was on fire. She saw her father stumble across the cabin and seize one of the parachutes. Was she going to have to jump? She never thought that she'd have to jump out of a plane-

Jean squealed as Logan's claws barely missed Kurt's face by inches. The startled boy vanished and reappeared next to her in the cargo bay of the X-Jet. "Do you think that I'm kidding now?" Logan staggered towards the cockpit door and sealed it shut, but the unnatural rage that seemed to be overwhelming him took control and his claws trailed-

The trail was full of thorns, but she had to keep running. Her foster father would catch her if she stopped and try to beat the wolf-devil that had possessed her out of her-

"Charles, could ye help me with this chair? I cannae seem to be able ta open it."

Charles? Jean stood back from the memory and saw it for what it was. An elegant woman with auburn hair and merry eyes laughed as a young Charles Xavier gallantly managed to unfold the small beach chair and set it under the large umbrella. Jean watched as the young couple flirted on the beach and felt her heart go out for the hidden flame her mentor still had for Moira MacTaggert.

The fragment faded and Jean found herself to be the nucleus of a raging storm of thoughts and feelings. Some were filled with fury, others with curiosity, and yet others with fear. As they swirled around her, she could feel more minds being drawn into hers.

How had this happened? She had tried to free Kitty-she _had_ freed Kitty-when the girl's control over her phasing ability had fled. Why had it done that?

Had it caused her own gifts to surge? Jean tried to push the gathering minds away from hers, but all she did was fall back into the mass.

__

"I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, Professor Xavier," the brawny teen said firmly, "but I'm positive that this...mutation...can be stopped."

The professor was older than when he had been wooing his Scottish sweetheart, but he had not yet been confined to his chair. "Hank, I think you are being overly optimistic. If you repress your mutation now, you risk it emerging after your body has finished maturing. The limited research I have been able to conduct makes me concerned that the transition period will be much more intense, even painful."

"My mind is made up, sir..."

My mind? This is my _mind_, Jean thought. _**Go away!**_

The whirlwind fled a short distance and a few minds dropped out of the merge. More confident, Jean pushed again, but then she felt someone reaching out for her.

__

*Jean?*

The momentary distraction was enough-the collected personalities swamped her and she fell back in.

Charles Xavier felt himself spinning in a mental tornado, his memories trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. He could feel many of the other residents of his school orbiting with him, thoughts and fears and hopes spilling from them as if they were full glasses suddenly tossed through the air. He focused his attention to the eye of the raging storm even as he felt more minds being swept into the uncontrolled meld.

Jean.

She was drowning in personalities. He called out to her, but she couldn't seem to hear him over the psychic din surrounding her. She was tangled in another mind-Kitty-and she was too distracted to realize that all she had to do was to undo the meld that was holding them together. Xavier knew that Jean's shields were capable of preventing an mental invasion of this scope; after her last power surge, neither Jean nor himself had wanted a repeat experience.

He tried to force himself out of her orbit, moving towards the center and found himself being drawn deeper into the sinkhole of her mind. It was as if her shields had been inverted-or transparent-

Xavier wondered how Jean and Kitty had become tangled, but put it aside for the moment. That could be explained later.

A fierce blast came from the center. Xavier felt himself being shoved away from Jean and saw/felt the minds furthest away drop out of the massive merge.

She had gained some control, then. He hovered, watching. If he interfered, Jean could be distracted.

Just then, Kitty's consciousness stirred. _*Jean?*_

Xavier watched with a growing sense of futility as Jean fell deeper below the crowding minds.

Scott Summers could feel concrete beneath his cheek. Awaking suddenly, he groped at his face to make sure that his red shades were still firmly settled over his eyes before he opened them. He stood, scanning his surroundings for any clue as to what had just occurred.

The sight of Logan passed out on the floor was not encouraging. The young X-man checked his instructor's vitals, which were as vigorous as ever. He could not, however, rouse him. What had happened? He looked at the sky. The sun had just set. It had only been late afternoon when he had collapsed.

Scott left Logan where he had fallen, calling to the Professor on his radio, hoping to hear his reassuring mental voice in response. Silence. He ran into the mansion, dread tracing cold fingers across his nerves when he came across his fallen teammates. He found the Professor unconscious in his study, Evan lying in an ungraceful heap near him.

__

I guess I can assume that I'm the only one awake, he thought, clenching his fists.

__

Bamf.

"Then again..."

In the Danger Room, Storm pushed herself up. Jean floated only inches from her, eyes white and staring, her red hair blowing in unnatural winds. Kitty was like a small shadow, her dark brown ponytail caught like a pennant in the breeze.

Storm shook herself and rose to her feet. Rogue lay next to the exit. Her hand was resting against the wall. Apparently, she had tried to escape. Storm gently arranged the girl into a more comfortable position and then reached up to the PA system, connecting to the entire school.

"This is Storm. Anyone who can hear me, please respond."

Not two minutes had passed when the small speaker crackled to life. "This is Nightcrawler. Cyclops is with me. Where are you? Everyone else in unconscious, including the Professor..."

Storm's heart contracted. "Come to the Danger Room. There is something wrong with Jean. Her powers are out of control." 


	4. Part Four

Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine. 

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

PS: Sorry about the late update. I have a lot of things going on in my life at the moment.

Part Four

"So," Nightcrawler said as he watched the two girls floating before them, "Katzchen's mind is tied up with Jean's?" He didn't want to see the slack features of Kitty's face, her eyes rolled up in the back of her head. He wanted her to smile. Or frown. Or yell. Anything was better than this eerie non-reaction.

"Correct," Storm replied. "Along with most of the other X-men as well. I'm not sure how we escaped." She glanced to the side, where Rogue could be seen laying on the floor.

"I don't think we _did_, Storm." Cyclops was watching Jean as intently as Nightcrawler was watching Shadowcat. "I think I may have dreamed. Or remembered, anyway."

Nightcrawler slouched, grimacing. Sometimes, at night, he would lay awake for hours before falling asleep. His dreams tended to leave him shivering and gasping for breath and reflexively checking his surroundings to make sure he was safe. "Me too. Jean seems to be collecting minds, _ja_?"

Storm frowned. "We need to check her before she reaches out beyond the mansion-if she hasn't already."

"But how?" Cyclops cried in frustration. "None of us are telepaths-the Professor is out cold! Same with Rogue."

The German mutant knew that there was very little that stumped Cyclops. Lack of resources was one of them, though.

"Maybe we could find the Professor inside Jean's head?" Nightcrawler suggested hopefully. "If we can get back inside her mind?"

"It's possible, Kurt," Storm responded after a few moments of consideration. "If we-or at least one of us-can concentrate on that purpose, it may be possible." Her white hair stirred weakly in the psionic wind surrounding the girls. "There is the risk that we will become trapped."

"I'll do it," Cyclops volunteered, his shoulders squared and set. His fist was clenched at his side.

"A moment, Scott." She studied the boys, attention turned inward. "Yes, Scott, you will go in with me. Nightcrawler-"

"_Ja?_" His long blue tail twitched.

"-you will stay out here." Storm waved her arm vaguely towards the Danger Room. "If neither Cyclops nor myself wake up, there are some emergency contacts that you can use."

"Muir Island?" He didn't know anything about the place except that it was a mutant research facility. The Professor kept some of his records there. Nightcrawler gave Storm a curious look.

"Yes," she nodded. She didn't elaborate and Kurt felt a twinge of disappointment. "Cyclops, we will both seek out the Professor. Do _not_ reach for Jean, understood?"

The tall boy set his mouth into a hard line. "Yes, ma'am. So what do we do?"

"All I did was touch Kitty to be drawn in before," Storm stated. She placed herself in front of the petite teenager. "I expect it should work again."

Storm touched Kitty's wrist. Cyclops and Nightcrawler both rushed to catch her.

"I wonder if this is really a good idea," Nightcrawler said in dismay.

"We have to do _something_, Kurt," Cyclops replied. "Besides, this was _your_ idea."

"So I get the blame?"

"Or the credit, fuzzball." With that, Cyclops reached out and grabbed Shadowcat by the hand, so Nightcrawler was left to watch over his fallen comrades.

Storm fell into chaos and pulled her emotions and thoughts close to her. The discipline that helped the weather witch maintain her control over her feelings helped her clear the space around her. There were figures and events occurring at all over, threatening to cloud her senses should she lose her purpose. She forced herself to the edges of the swirling mindstorm.

*_Charles?_* she called out. If the Professor was in this mess, he should hear her.

Indeed, he appeared right beside her and she was so startled that she nearly let herself be sucked under_. *I'm here, Ororo. I'm glad to see you've managed to pull yourself loose from the current._*

Briefly, Storm managed to convey what she knew of the situation to her friend. *_Can you find Scott?_* she asked. *_He should be here..._*

Professor X cast out his awareness. *_He is here, but he is sinking._* Storm could almost see the telepath reach a hand into the chaos and pull Cyclops free.

Scott looked extremely confused. *_Professor-_*

*_Do not trouble yourself, Scott. At least you were aware enough for me to find you._* As if to underscore the Professor's words, a crowd of Logans suddenly charged past with an equally large group of Sabertooths in hot pursuit.

Ignoring the phantasms, Storm asked *_Could you free us at any time, Charles?_*

*_It would take a great deal of effort, but yes. It would be easier, however, for Jean to simply release us, but Kitty is tied up in Jean's consciousness somehow. I believe that, based on what happened in the Danger Room, this surge is more Kitty's doing than Jean's. Jean's powers, unfortunately, were triggered by the link she made with Kitty._*

*_So we need to free Kitty, sir?_* asked Scott.

*_It should be that simple,_* his mentor replied. *_The trial is to get to Jean and Kitty. The trapped minds are densest around them and it is very difficult to break through, even for me._*

*Difficult _doesn't mean_ impossible, _Professor_,* Scott stated, determined.

Storm chuckled. *_Indeed it doesn't, Cyclops._*

The Professor drew the others' attention. *_I think I know how to proceed..._*

__

Kitty held onto a dead tree root desperately, knowing that if she fell, the rocks hidden beneath the storm-churned waves far below would kill her instantly. She wondered how it hadn't given way already, but prayed that it would not break. It had already bent a few degrees downwards, dust and gravel skittering loose. Punishing winds battered at her body, trying to carry her away. 

She had tried to swing herself inside the cliff with her mutation and had nearly lost her grip when the stone repelled her as surely as it would any without her very unique ability to phase. All that she had accomplished was to pull the root out a little bit more. Her palms were sore now, with sweat working its way into her split blisters.

Kitty flinched as the root bent a little more, tendrils pulling free of the eroded cliff. The wind shoved her roughly into the rock yet again.

"Kitty," said a voice behind her.

"Huh?" Kitty turned her attention away from her failing grip to see three shadows hovering before her. They flickered in and out in the raging storm all around her. She could stars and galaxies within them. It was very beautiful.

"Pull Jean out of the cliff," said the one on the left. It was full of planets spinning with slow grace. "If you do, she can make the storm go away."

"Huh? How can I do that?" Even if she could escape from her predicament, she had no idea where Jean was.

"You're holding onto her hand, child. It would be very simple. Phase and pull her out," said the second, who was in the middle. This one had comets streaking within it. Kitty noted that it was the one keeping the other two in mid-air.

"What?" Kitty looked at the root she was clinging to. It did_ look a lot like a hand, actually... "If I do, we'll both fall!"_

"The storm is confusing and dangerous, Kitty, but only Jean can make it go away."

This was a dream. It had to be. It was too strange not to be. Kitty looked down into the waves and saw, to her shock, the bodies of her classmates bobbing helplessly in the water. None appeared to be swimming. "No!" she cried in horror. "I'll end up like them!"

"Kitty, I'll help you," said the shadow that hadn't spoken yet. It had bright red stars burning within it. "Jump towards me. We'll fall together."

"Trust Scott, Kitty," said the one filled with comets. "He would never harm you."

"Scott?" Kitty said in disbelief. "You're Scott?" She regarded the shadow in confusion. "You don't look anything like him!" she yelled.

The root bent abruptly and Kitty tightened her hold.

"Storm, Jean is trying to work herself free," said the one on the left. "Kitty, you are in Jean's mind. You are keeping her trapped here. As long as you hold on to her, she can't free herself."

"But if she's that root, I'm doing her a favor by pulling her out!"

"No. She is doing that herself. You keep blocking her," said the one in the left. "Pull Jean loose and let go. Of you don't, we'll have to try a different tactic and we'd rather not. This is very, very serious, Kitty."

The root gave a few more inches and Kitty's head spun in fear. "No!" she shrieked, terror taking full possession of her.

"Charles, we have no time!" said the comet-shadow.

"I know, Storm," sighed the planet-shadow. "Scott?"

"Ready, sir," responded the star-shadow.

The planet-shadow and the star-shadow both seized her, pulling her away from the cliff as they let loose of the comet-shadow. She screamed and struggled, holding onto the root madly. The shadows were not strong or terribly heavy, but they seemed solid enough. The planet-shadow had seized the hand hanging onto the root and was carefully, but inexorably, weakening her grip.

The comet-shadow watched, the winds not affecting it.

The slight weight of the shadows was too much. Kitty fell, eyes wide, as they broke her grip. She screamed as the three of them plunged into the raging waves below.


	5. Part Five

Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine. 

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

Part Five

__

Jean felt herself freed, deadweight she didn't even know she had being swept away in the wild currents that surrounded her.

Kicking hard, she surfaced.

There was a woman above her, standing above the plane of chaos Jean could feel herself trapped in. She was surrounded by light so intense that her silhouette was a mere flicker of movement.

The shadow held out her hand. "Jean, come to me. It's safer up here."

But how could she? The fine control she had of her telekinesis was scattered across the waves the way light danced on water. "I can't! You need to help me!" she cried. She lifted one hand out towards the woman.

Darkly transparent fingers reached out and gently brushed hers. They were no heavier than a sigh. "There is only so much I can do, Jean. This place is far beyond any element I can control."

"S-Storm?" Jean gasped. "What happened? I can't remember!"

"You fell, child. You fell into your mind and you took nearly all the X-men with you. Do you remember rescuing Kitty?" She was kneeling now, her fingertips still touching Jean's.

There was a memory...

A reality of sorts slowly began to form around her. Jean found herself floating in limbo once more, the bright stars that were the minds of her friends and teachers orbiting her in spectacular streaks, emotions and memories trailing behind them. Storm hovered before her, tethered to Jean by their linked hands.

*_Are you in control again, Jean?_* the weather witch asked hopefully.

*_Yes. I'm not sure how I lost it to begin with._* She looked out towards her captive minds, caught in her strange, but irresistible, gravity.

*_Did you panic when you merged with Kitty? She was in a state of utter hysteria. In such an intimate... situation, her emotions could have been mistaken for your own,_* Storm suggested.

*Kitty! Is she all right?* Jean felt a stab of conscience.

Storm raised her other hand to her face, holding her cheek. *_Do not focus on that right now. We can discuss when all are free of this place._* She touched a finger to Jean's mouth when she was about to speak_. *Your strong emotions are what are prohibiting you from control, Jean. You must center yourself and move beyond them._*

Jean tried, but it was very, very difficult.

Kurt's watch beeped. It was now nine o'clock, nearly three hours since Storm and Scott had re-entered Jean's mind. He had spent the first fifteen minutes or so of his lone vigil tensely watching Jean and Katzchen, hoping that something would change. Then, in an effort to keep his mind occupied, he had teleported around the grounds, gathering the other fallen X-men and laying them gently in their rooms.

Then he had returned to the Danger Room control center to wait.

The suspense was killing him.

It was creepy, the way Jean and Katzchen floated like a pair of ghosts. He didn't dare touch them; if he became lost in their minds the way the others were, there was a chance that no one would ever re-awaken. At any moment, he thought with a twinge of alarm, it was possible that Jean (or Katzchen?) could draw him back in.

He glanced at his watch again. Nine-oh-three. He tapped a pair of thick blue fingers on the arm of his chair restlessly, his tail curling itself into knots.

Being left behind was very lonely.

*_Jean, you need to relax_,* Storm said after some time had passed. *_The others know where they belong. The Professor once told me that a spirit's natural state is to be within its own body. It seems to me that all these minds are trapped like butterflies in a butterfly net. If you let your shields down for a few moments, perhaps they will fly free on their own._*

Jean sighed, her hands still clasped in the other woman's. *_It's worth a try. I wish the Professor were here_.*

*_As do I. You must remember, though, that he may not always be around_.* She looked away, studying a point so distant that it could only be found inside herself. *_I know that it took me many years to gain full control over my abilities. Even now, it slips from time to time, but, ultimately, I have no one but myself to rely on. Or blame_.*

Bowing her head, Jean lowered her shields.

Evan Daniels woke up from a strange nightmare of being lost at sea, bolting straight out of his bed, panting hard. Taking in the sight of his own bedroom, he shook his head once. "That was weird."

He peered around the room, trying to make sense of his disjointed memories. "Uh, went to wake up Kurt, couldn't, went to find the Prof, _he _fainted—" He made his way out of his room. "Man, why can't things ever be _normal_ around here?"

"Normal is what happens to other people, Evan," a voice said from further down the hall. It was Scott, in his uniform. "Sorry. Couldn't help overhearing."

"So, what's, like, _goin' on_, man?"

__

Kitty drifted beneath the surface of the waves, her eyes closed and her arms limp. The terror was gone; the water was quite soothing down here, where the harsh storm could not affect her. She was dimly aware that the shadows had floated away, but she could not bring herself to muster any kind of concern about it.

Then, unexpectedly, she slowly began to rise. It wasn't troubling. She could feel the cool air on her face as she broke free of the stilled ocean. She took a luxurious breath—

—and squawked, her eyes popping open as she felt herself falling.

She landed on something furry and loud, an _oomph_ escaping from her lungs.

"Ach, Katzchen, you're heavier than you appear," a Teutonic voice mumbled from underneath her. A small cloud of sulfur was dissipating around them.

"_Kurt?_" Kitty yelped. "Like, what are you _doing?_" She leapt away from him like he had fleas.

"I do not advise disturbing Jean," he stated calmly, straightening himself gingerly. He pointed directly behind her. "If you are quite finished being startled, we've been dealing with a real emergency."

Kitty spun and saw Jean Grey floating in mid-air, a gentle psychic wind blowing around her. "Like, what happened?"

Kurt explained the situation succinctly: "Jean lost control of her powers when she tried to help you take control of _yours_. She currently has—or, at least, _had_—most of the X-men trapped inside her mind. You included."

Kitty thought about her odd dream, which, unlike many dreams she had had in her life, actually became clearer the longer she was conscious, instead of fading away. "Um, okay."

Usually Kurt Wagner paid her the utmost attention, but at the moment he was watching Jean with narrowed eyes. "No offense, Katzchen, but could you go around the school and check on the others? They were all unconscious, so I put them in their rooms. Check on Ms. Munroe and Scott, first." He settled into a crouch. "I'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem, but some distance between you and Jean would make me a lot less nervous."

Kitty wasn't going to argue, though Kurt's unspoken assertion that somehow she was responsible for the entire situation made her guts turn uncomfortably. "Uh, sure. No problem." She let herself out of the Danger Room hastily, paranoia fluttering around her ribcage uneasily.

Kurt watched her go and saw the defensive slump in her shoulders. He cursed himself for an insensitive boor. _Sorry, Katzchen. _

Slowly, the stars blinked out, one by one by one. Soon, only Storm was left, and Jean could fell her fading away, even as she held her hands.

*_I—I never want this to happen again, Storm_.*

Her teacher smiled before she faded away. *_We'll help you, child. Until you can do it on your own._*

Morning came to the Xavier Institute. A light shower pattered gently on the windows and random sunbeams made the sky glow with the colors of the rainbow.

Professor Xavier was addressing his students, hiding his private self-recriminations over the events of yesterday. Teachers were supposed to be prepared for every contingency, but this one had caught them all flatfooted. He forced himself to pay attention to his own words.

"Since Jean's abilities are, in effect, enhancing your own, we are going to be adding some guided meditation sessions to the roster every week. Either Storm or myself will be leading them." Several of the students let out audible groans at the prospect of more lessons. Xavier frowned. "We cannot run the risk of _any_ of us triggering this sort of event again," he said in gentle rebuke. "Consider it a small price for living with telepaths. We are very careful not to intrude on your thoughts. Now that the tables have the potential to be turned, please try not to invade _ours._"

There was nothing anyone could say to that, Xavier knew.

A little later, Storm and Jean were both walking the grounds. Despite the falling rain, neither was wet.

"Thank you, again, Ororo."

"It's a matter of discipline, Jean. It's also a matter of exploring all the possibilities," the weather witch replied.

"Kitty is avoiding me. She feels completely responsible."

Storm stopped. "Fly with me a moment, Jean." A wind blew up around her and she rose into the air. "Let me show you something."

Confused, the telekinetic teenager followed her instructor to a vantage high above the school.

"Look at the city." Jean did so, studying the wet rooftops that gleamed faintly in the distance. "When I look at Bayville from here, I can see how the elements affect it. I can see where the river is eroding one side of the bank, hope the rain is wearing away the bronze on City Hall, where the cemetery is slowly sinking below sea level. I see how fragile the houses are when the wind blows away the shingles on the roofs. I see how the people huddle under their umbrellas to keep dry. I can see how my power can affect others, even when I am doing nothing with it." Her face was dispassionate. "What do you see, Jean? My powers only affect the physical environment." A gust of wind blew her cape out behind her. "Your abilities are only going to become stronger, child. They will continue to affect the people around you, and those closest to you most of all. What happened with Kitty was inevitable—and it could have been anyone."

Jean listened to her words, watching the people of Bayville go about their daily affairs, ignorant of the not-quite-goddesses watching them with solemn eyes.

"I know, Storm. I know."

----------

Author's Note:

Angst, anybody? That ended on more of a downer than I had anticipated. It's awful to feel responsible for something you didn't mean to do and even worse when you realize that you probably could have prevented it. That goes for the Professor, as well as Jean and Kitty.


End file.
